A metal fabricator’s dilemma: What to do about walk-in customers

Barnes MetalCrafters walk-in sign.jpg: The sign for walk-in customers at Barnes MetalCrafters in Wilson, N.C., has been hanging outside the shop for years.

Every walk-in customer comes with an entertaining story. For our company, Barnes MetalCrafters, it’s hard to avoid the subject as they become part of the shop’s routine. As our operation gets closer to moving into a new facility, there are some unknowns about how the business will evolve. And how we handle walk-in customers is something we will have to address when the time comes.

Our current and future shops are located in Wilson, N.C. It’s neither a small town nor a big city. Word does get around, so you have to pick your battles when it comes to walk-ins. Are they annoying? Sometimes. Do we make any money taking walk-ins? Sometimes. I could bounce around similar questions and, chances are, the answer will usually be “sometimes.”

We’ve been helping all types of people do odd jobs for years, so I really don’t see us stopping. But at what point do you stop taking walk-in customers?

I do enjoy talking to them and learning about their project. It is nice to get away from the computer or the everyday routine and wrap your head around what the customer is trying to accomplish.

The internet and phone book are two easy ways to find our shop, it’s inevitable someone will walk in unannounced. Recently one customer came in needing a coffee table repaired. It wasn't much of a job, but the table had sentimental value. We did the repair, but was it really worth our time to get the job done?

I have several outlooks on this debate. One is that the odd jobs keep our guys on their toes. It expands their skills by doing something they may never do otherwise. Another way I see it is that we made the customer happy. While we did not make any money on the job, he will likely tell someone else about the experience. That leads to us asking, do we want anyone else coming in with a small job? Sometimes.

Another customer came in and asked if we did small jobs. I said we do and asked him how we could help. We walked out to his car, and he had the cover for a transom from an old aluminum boat he was restoring with his 10-year-old son. The customer was thrilled his son showed some interest in the project, so he jumped on the opportunity at the first spark of enthusiasm.

I also have an old aluminum boat that was passed down to me from my Grandpa Martin. It is also the boat my dad used while growing up. I ended up talking to this guy for a while about boats and even took him to a small warehouse next door to show him my boat project.

Long story short, we told the guy we would make a new transom cover for him. We were slammed-to-the-core busy at that moment, but I felt like it was something we needed to do. The job is going to require about half a sheet of 4x8 0.080-inch aluminum material. In all honesty, it will take 20-30 times longer to draw it up than it will to cut it out on the laser.

On the other hand, talking to this guy for 30-45 minutes forced me to walk away from a project that was near 90 percent completion. This job required six sheets of 4x8 ¼-in.-thick stainless steel. That's a different ball game.

Barnes MetalCrafters in Wilson, N.C., continues to put finishing touches on its new facility. Recently the fab shop installed an aluminum railing on its new truck dock.

We are thankful to have work and to be quoting projects. We are also thankful to have the ability to take walk-in customers, so don’t think I am complaining. I am also a big fan of getting my hands dirty to complete a project. But there are times it would be best to give my complete attention to scheduled projects instead of sacrificing time to do the walk-in jobs.

We have a sign posted out front that says “$50 minimum charge for walk-ins.” I don’t know how many times we have heard someone ask us if we are going to charge them $50 to walk in the door. We smile even though we’ve heard the joke a million times. Maybe we should start saying yes.

I’ve spoken with other shops about this issue. One person said they don’t take walk-ins unless the job is going to be more than $500. Their shop handles more heavy-duty fabrications than our shop, so that is understandable. You can eliminate wasted time if you cut to the chase and eliminate the small talk. Another person I asked said he tells people it costs $100 for him to turn on his computer and design anything. Again, that is fair given the cost of software nowadays – not to mention the cost of paying someone who has expertise in operating advanced software.

I guess we will have to wait and see if our new building turns away customers with small projects. Sometimes you have to go to the right place to get the job done. We don’t want to be lawn mower welders forever. Our current shop has some deep roots in its current location, and some of our customers are probably seconds- or third-generation.

But one thing that most of our customers agree on is that we are out of space. Who knows, maybe the larger building will improve their “walk-in” game a little and we may see some more time-worthy projects. We will cross that bridge when we get there. Until then we will take the entertainment, however the job comes through the door.